Man Shall Not Live by Bread Alone

During my second visit to India I met a lady who was part of a House Church in Hyderabad. She invited us into her home and was very eager to share her testimony. I don’t remember if there was some sort of crisis in her life at that time of her conversion. I do remember how she came to know Christ. Most of us come to know Him through the testimony of another who already knows Him. Occasionally, we do hear stories of people who come from having a supernatural vision of Him. They are often people that are in areas like hers in which the knowledge of Christianity is limited.

This dear lady had all her life been a believer in the Hindu religion, when one night Christ appeared to her in a dream. What do you suppose was His message to her? His message to her was for her to find a Bible and begin reading it! It was there that she found about the Gospel and the plan of God for her life, and was born again. Eventually she did find other believers and the fellowship of our friends in Hyderabad.

In countries like America, the Gospel is widely proclaimed and there are churches in every neighborhood. An individual might embrace the Christian faith simply because of a family tradition. That could not be said in this case. She would never have that hint of doubt that might lay in the heart of one whose faith was handed down “second hand.”

That is why each of us need to seek the Lord and get to know Him for ourselves. I am tremendously thankful that I was raised in a Christian home, but oh how glad I am to know for myself that Jesus Christ is real and truly the Lord of all!

It can be a sad thing when people know the Christian life only as a family tradition. Some people take pride in their knowledge of the Bible in much the same way. You probably know someone who knows the Bible but has not allowed it to change his or her heart and attitudes.

On the other hand, it is equally sad to have a spiritual experience without allowing the Holy Spirit to instruct our minds through His Word. These days it is becoming popular for Christians to make light of Bible study. Some assume that anyone who takes the Bible seriously is not “spiritually minded.” Most of these people have no idea of the power they have from simply absorbing the Scripture from our American culture! We learn more of the Bible by accident than people from many other parts of the world. It is in our holidays, the names of our cities, our common clichés and even in our commercials!

The most spiritual man who ever lived was Jesus of Nazareth. And yet; no one had a higher view of Scripture than Him. He brandied the Sword of the Spirit with great skill against the temptations of the devil. Even as a young boy he amazed the teachers of the law with His insights into the Scriptures. As a man, the way He bested the Bible scholars of His day incited them to great jealousy, hatred and even murder.

Before I understood the value of knowing the Scripture, my Christian life was weak and unstable. After I began this life-long adventure of learning and living in the Word of God, all that changed! That adventure began when I recognized Jesus as Lord of my life and that He desired to continually teach me how to live that life through His Word, as found in the Bible.

Some would call me a “Bible worshiper.” All I can say, is that like the sister I met in India, Jesus Himself has directed me to learn about Him through the Scriptures, that were “given by inspiration of God.” (2 Timothy 3:16). They will prove to be profitable to anyone who believes in Him. Even those who may not already believe are in danger of becoming believers. It was John, who wrote His Gospel those things about Jesus in order that the reader might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing they might have life in His Name! (John 20:31).